Freezer door and draw off valve for a continuous freezer

ABSTRACT

A continuous freezer for ice cream, malted, custard or the like in which the product is drawn off through a serving valve located in the cover at one end of the freezing cylinder. The valve includes a vertically shiftable plunger which is actuated by a swingable lever and a pin and slot connection is provided between the lever and the plunger to shift the latter between closed and dispensing positions. A pair of O-rings are provided around the plunger so as to seal the product in the cylinder and prevent it from escaping either upwardly or downwardly in the vertical bore in which the plunger is mounted.

United States Patent Werner [54] FREEZER DOOR AND DRAW OFF VALVE FOR A CONTINUOUS FREEZER [72] Inventor: Berniried M. Werner, Pompano Beach, Fla.

[73] Assignee: Louis A. M. Phelan, Pompano Beach, Fla.

[22] Filed: July 29, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 59,100

[52] U.S. Cl. ..62/342, 222/559, 251/324 [51] Int. Cl. ..F25c 7/08 [58] Field of Search ..251/231, 236, 237, 324, 219,

[4 1 Oct. 17, 1972 3,229,476 1/1966 Fraser et a] ..62/342 X 1,586,426 5/1926 Gray ..251/236 3,323,321 6/1967 Carpiani ..62/342 1,829,120 10/1931 Toews ..251/237 X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 57,519 2/1970 Germany ..222/559 Primary Examiner-William E. Wayner Attorney-James E. Nilles [57] ABSTRACT A continuous freezer for ice cream, malted, custard or the like in which the product is drawn off through a serving valve located in the cover at one end of the freezing cylinder. The valve includes a vertically shiftable plunger which is actuated by a swingable lever and a pin and slot connection is provided between the lever and the plunger to shift the latter between closed and dispensing positions. A pair of 0- rings are provided around the plunger so as to seal the product in the cylinder and prevent it from escaping either upwardly or downwardly in the vertical bore in which the plunger is mounted.

5 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTEDom 11 I972 SHEET 1 BF 2 INVENTOR B.M.WERNER M G5.

ATTORNEY PATENTEDum 17 m2 SHEET 2 BF 2 INVENTOR 2 B. M. WERNER TTORNEY FREEZER DOOR AND DRAW OFF VALVE FOR A CONTINUOUS FREEZER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention pertains to a dispensing valve for a continuous freezer, the valve being of the type having a vertically shiftable plunger that is shifted by the operator between a product dispensing and a cylinder closed position. The cylinder is under pressure and the product is forced therefrom with a considerable force and consequently, the valve must be effective in completely sealing the cylinder when no draw is to be made and thereby prevent dripping of the product and also prevent the product from becoming watery in the area of the draw off valve.

Valves of this general nature are shown in the US. Pat. No. 3,172,422 issued on Mar. 9, 1965 to Koch. Another example of such a valve is shown in the patent to Koch, US. Pat. No. 3,081,804, issued Mar. 18, 1965. Both of these patents have been assigned to an assignee common with that of the present application. The said US. Pat. No. 3,172,422 provided a satisfactory valve arrangement, but it did not provide the operator with the necessary sense of feel of the valve and permit him to accurately position the valve in the precise location for the exact rate of draw off desired. The valve shown in the said US. Pat. No. 3,081,804 was actuated by the operator placing a cup underneath the shiftable valve element and then raising it, but neither would this device provide the feel or accurate adjustment which is required for rapid and precise draw off operation. Both of the above said patents utilized a metal cover which required insulation so as to prevent condensation and sweating on the outside of the front end of the freezer.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION The present invention provides a cover for the front end of a continuous freezer and in which a vertically shiftable plunger is provided for movement by the operator between a lower, cylinder close position and an upper, product draw off position. The plunger made in accordance with the present invention is precisely actuated and controlled by a lever pivotally mounted on the cover, and which lever has a slot connection with a pin in the plunger so as to provide a particularly smooth and effortless operation of the valve plunger. With the slot and pin connection, a good mechanical advantage is provided and the operator can precisely control and stop the plunger at any position so as to accurately meter the product at the desired ,rate. The interior of the cylinder is pressurized, but nevertheless, the operator need not apply any particular pressure to the actuating lever in order to move it with precision and smoothness. The valve of the present invention does not have a tendency to over-travel and when in the closed position, it completely seals the product from escaping in the vertical bore either in an upward or downward direction.

The operating lever is formed in part at least, as a flat and narrow portion which moves in a correspondingly narrow slot in the cover to thereby provide a smoothly operating, wobble free handle.

A more specific aspect of the invention relates to making the cover of a plastic known as Delrin or Celcon CA 2064 which provide the necessary insulating LII quality and prevents condensation on the outside of the cover. This material has been proved to be sufficiently tough so that when it is under pressure, it will not distort.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will appear hereinafter as this disclosure progresses, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF Til-IE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a longitudinal cross sectional view through a continuous freezer having a cover and valve made in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a portion of the freezer shown in FIG. 1, but on an enlarged scale and when in the draw off position;

FIG. 3 is a perspective, fragmentary view of the front end of a freezer utilizing the cover and serving valve shown in FIGS. 1 and 2; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective, exploded view of the actuating handle and the vertically shiftable valve plunger.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The freezer shown for the purpose of illustrating the present invention includes a cylinder 1 having a radially extending flange 2 welded thereto and extending therearound adjacent the discharge end of the freezer. The freezer cylinder extends outwardly a short distance past the flange 2 and terminates in an end 3.

A door D is provided for enclosing the discharge end of the freezer cylinder and this door is secured to the flange 2 of the cylinder by means of the four bolts 5 which are rigidly secured to the flange 2 and extend outwardly therefrom. The door is. held captive on the bolts by means of the large nuts 6. These nuts can be grasped by the fingers so as to be removed or tightened without the aid of any tools. The door has a large bore 7 at its rear side which terminates in an annular groove 8. A large O-ring 9 is positioned in the groove 8 so that the flange 2 of the freezer cylinder can abut tightly against the O-ring and compress the ring against the cover when the nuts 6 are drawn tight on their bolts 5.

The cover has a central hub 12 that extends into the freezing cylinder and rotatably supports the scraper assembly 14. If a more complete description of the scraper assembly is deemed to be either necessary or desirable, reference may be had to the copending application, Ser. No. 59,099 filed July 29, 1970, and which issued as US. Pat. No. 3,641,783 on Feb. 15, 1972, entitled Scraper Assembly and Material Retarder for a Cylindrical Continuous Freezer.

The cover includes a forwardly projecting portion 15 and a vertically disposed cylindrical bore 16 extends through this forwardly projecting portion 15. The bore is in. communication with the interior of the freezer by means of a generally horizontally arranged passage 19 located generally at a lower portion of the door.

The projecting portion has a vertical slot 17 formed therein, said slot having its open side at the front side of said door for a purpose that will presently appear.

A plunger P is vertically shiftable in the bore 16 between a lower, closed position as shown in FIG. 2 and an upper, open position as shown in FIG. 2, where the passage is open to permit the product to leave the freezing cylinder and fall by gravity from the bore 16. It will be noted the plunger has a pair of spaced apart rings 18 mounted around its periphery and when the plunger is in the lower flow blocking position, one 0- ring is located on each side of the passage 19. The interior of the freezer cylinder 1 is under pressure so as to force the product through the passage 19 and the use of an O-ring on either side of the plunger when the latter is in the closed position assures that no leakage from the shell occurs when the valve is closed. The interior of the freezer cylinder 1 is pressurized by a pump P (FIG. 1) which is fully described in the copending US. application, Ser. No. 59,191, filed July 29, l970--- Positive displacement, gear type pump and which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 3,666,383 on May 30, 1972. If a more complete description of the structure or function of the pump is deemed to be either necessary or desirable, reference may be had to that application, but it is believed sufficient to say for purposes of this disclosure that the pump forces an aerated product into a freezer cylinder -to thereby keep the cylinder supplied with material to be frozen.

The upper end of the plunger has a vertical slot 22 formed therein. A pin 23 extends through the plunger and across the slot 22.

A handle H is pivotally mounted intermediate its length on a removable pivot pin 25 attached to the door, and can swing between the upper plunger closing position shown in FIG. 1 and a lower position in which the plunger is open, as shown in FIG. 2. More specifically, the flat, narrow portion 27 of the handle has an open ended slot 28 which embraces pin 23 for relative sliding movement therewith.

The outer end of the handle is shiftable by the operator to consequently move the plunger in a vertical direction between open and closed positions or to any intermediate position therebetween so as to be able to accurately meter the flow of the product from the pressurized cylinder.

The pivot pin 25 can be easily removed by its knurled end 25a (FIG. 3) which can be rotated to engage or disengage the threaded end 26 of the pin relative to the door.

The handle portion 27 of the handle H is formed of a flat piece of steel which is relatively narrow, for example one-eighth of an inch. The wide flat surface of handle portion 27 forms a stable, wide bearing surface with the corresponding slot 17 of the cover to result in wobble-free movement of the lever.

By providing a slot and pin connection between the end of the swinging handle and the vertically shiftable plunger, the operator is able to accurately feel the position of the plunger and move it to any precise position desired. There is no tendency for the plunger to overtravel and there is no excessive force required by the operator to shift the plunger in either direction. With this slot and pin connection, a good mechanical advantage is provided for the operator and he can precisely stop the plunger at any desired position without any looseness of movement or over-travel of the plunger. When the plunger is in the closed position, escape of the product in either an upper or lower direction is prevented.

The cover of the present invention as well as the plunger are preferably Delrin or Celcon plastic and this material provides the necessary insulating quality for these parts which prevents condensation on the outside of the cover. Furthermore, Delrin or Celcon material have proved to be sufficiently tough so that when under pressure due to the pressure in the shell, no distortion occurs.

The cover can be easily removed from and assembled to the shell in sealing relationship and this insures frequent and complete cleaning of the parts as required by the sanitary codes of the various states.

lclaim:

1. In a freezer having a discharge end, a plastic freezer door having an integrally formed portion formed as one piece and enclosing said end, said por tion having a vertically disposed cylindrical bore therein, a vertical slot formed in said door, a plunger vertically shiftable in said bore and having a slot formed therein, a pin in said plunger and located entirely within said plunger and extending across said plunger slot, a handle having a flat narrow portion located in said plunger slot and pivotally mounted therein, said handle having an inner end defining an open ended slot located within said bore and which embraces said pin, the other outer end of said handle being vertically shiftable to consequently cause said plunger to be moved in a vertical direction.

2. The freezer as set forth in claim I further characterized in that said plunger has a pair of O-ring seals therearound, said seals being spaced apart so that one is located on each side of said passage when said plunger is in said lower flow blocking position.

3. In a freezer having a discharge end, a plastic freezer door having an integrally formed forwardly projecting integral portion with a generally vertically disposed cylindrical bore therein, said door enclosing said discharge end, a vertical slot formed in said door and having an open side at the front side of said door, a plunger vertically shiftable in said bore, the upper end of said plunger having a slot formed therein, a pin in said plunger and located entirely within said plunger and extending across said plunger slot, a handle having a flat narrow portion located in said vertical slot of said door and pivotally mounted therein, said handle having an inner end and an open ended slot formed in said inner end and located within said bore, said open ended slot embracing said pin for relative sliding movement therewith, the other outer end of said handle being vertically shiftable so as to consequently cause said plunger to be moved in a vertical direction.

4. The freezer as set forth in claim 7 further characterized in that said plunger has a pair of O-ring seals therearound, said seals being spaced apart so that one is located on each side of the passage when said plunger is in a lower position.

5. In a freezer having a discharge end, a door formed of plastic and for enclosing said end, said door having a large bore at its rear end and an annular groove formed in said bore, means to removably secure said door to said end, a seal located in said groove and sealingly engaging said cover and freezer end, an integrally formed forwardly projecting portion, a generally vertically disposed cylindrical bore in said projecting portion, a passage in said door and placing said bore in communication with the interior of said freezer, a vertical slot formed in said door and having an open side at the front side of said door, a plunger formed of plastic and vertically shiftable in said bore between a lower position in which flow from said freezer is blocked and an upper position in which flow can occur from said freezer into said bore for discharge by gravity therefrom, said plunger having a pair of O-ring seals therearound, said seals being spaced apart so that one is located on each side of said passage when said plunger is in said lower flow blocking position, the upper end of said plunger having a slot formed therein, a pin in said plunger and extending across said slot, a

handle having a flat narrow portion located in said vertical slot of said door and pivotally mounted therein, said handle having an inner end and an open ended slot formed in said inner end and located in said bore, said open ended slot embracing said pin for relative sliding movement therewith, the other outer end of said handle being vertically shiftable so as to consequently cause said plunger to be moved in a vertical direction between said positions. 

1. In a freezer having a discharge end, a plastic freezer door having an integrally formed portion formed as one piece and enclosing said end, said portion having a vertically disposed cylindrical bore therein, a vertical slot formed in said door, a plunger vertically shiftable in said bore and having a slot formed therein, a pin in said plunger and located entirely within said plunger and extending across said plunger slot, a handle having a flat narrow portion located in said plunger slot and pivotally mounted therein, said handle having an inner end defining an open ended slot located within said bore and which embraces said pin, the other outer end of said handle being vertically shiftable to consequently cause said plunger to be moved in a vertical direction.
 2. The freezer as set forth in claim 1 further characterized in that said plunger has a pair of O-ring seals therearound, said seals being spaced apart so that one is located on each side of said passage when said plunger is in said lower flow blocking position.
 3. In a freezer having a discharge end, a plastic freezer door having an integrally formed forwardly projecting integral portion with a generally vertically disposed cylindrical bore therein, said door enclosing said discharge end, a vertical slot formed in said door and having an open side at the front side of said door, a plunger vertically shiftable in said bore, the upper end of said plunger having a slot formed therein, a pin in said plunger and located entirely within said plunger and extending across said plunger slot, a handle having a flat narrow portion located in said vertical slot of said door and pivotally mounted therein, said handle having an inner end and an open ended slot formed in said inner end and located within said bore, said open ended slot embracing said pin for relative sliding movement therewith, the other outer end of said handle being vertically shiftable so as to consequently cause said plunger to be moved in a vertical direction.
 4. The freezer as set forth in claim 7 further characterized in that said plunger has a pair of O-ring seals therearound, said seals being spaced apart so that one is located on each side of the passage when said plunger is in a lower position.
 5. In a freezer having a discharge end, a door formed of plastic and for enclosing said end, said door having a large bore at its rear end and an annular groove formed in said bore, means to removably secure said door to said end, a seal located in said groove and sealingly engaging said cover and freezer end, an integrally formed forwardly projecting portion, a generally vertically disposed cylindrical bore in said projecting portion, a passage in said door and placing said bore in communication with the interior of said freezer, a vertical slot formed in said door and having an open side at the front side of said door, a plunger formed of plastic and vertically shiftable in said bore between a lower position in which flow from said freezer is blocked and an upper position in which flow can occur from said freezer into said bore for discharge by gravity therefrom, said plunger having a pair of O-ring seals therearound, said seals being spaced apart so that one is located on each side of said passage when said plunger is in said lower flow blocking position, the upper end of said plunger having a slot formed therein, a pin in said plunger and extending across said slot, a handle having a flat narrow portion located in said vertical slot of said door and pivotally mounted therein, said handle having an inner end and an open ended slot formed in said inner end and located in said bore, said open ended slot embracing said pin for relative sliding movement therewith, the other outer end of said handle being vertically shiftable so as to consequently cause said plunger to be moved in a vertical direction between said positions. 